Already, some $318 million, by law, has been designated to pay down the more than $2 billion lawmakers have borrowed in education funding to craft recent state budget agreements.

The dollars come out of recent state budget surpluses, which have replenished the budget reserve.

Garofalo’s bill would add an additional $430 million to the outgoing one-time school funding — all told, an additional $780 in per pupil funding — but also depletes the budget reserve.

“I think it’s a higher priority to pay back the debt than to have the cash in hand,” said Garofalo.

The state would still have $577 million in reserve, said Garofalo.

His bill passed the House education finance committee Thursday, March 8, on a 14 – 5 vote.

House Speaker Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove, styled the bill as reflecting what Republicans have been hearing from the public.

“We believe we’re on a good track,” he said of the state budget.

Zellers doesn’t believe the next state budget forecast, out in November, would show a darkening state budget picture.

But Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton suggested Thursday, the Republican proposal was an election year political ploy.

“Sounds good,” he said.

But Dayton expressed concern that Republicans by “raiding” the budget reserve could force the state into short-term borrowing.

Beyond this, his philosophy on additional state spending — and that’s Dayton considers the funding shift repayment — is that it must be offset by additional revenue, Dayton said.

He would hold Republicans to that task, said Dayton.

Education Minnesota President Tom Dooher in a statement said while the idea of paying off the school shift as quickly as possible is laudable, “This proposal is a risky, one-time maneuver that pays off only a fraction of the money owed to schools while putting the state’s budget reserves and credit rating at risk,” said the teachers’ union president.

Republicans and Democrats blame each other for the school funding shifts.

His legislation would return the school payment schedule, said Garofalo, back to as it was in 2011.